The Continuum Concept -- I wish I would have read this before we had kids. The author studied the parenting of tribal peoples as a way of understanding our evolutionary history. Sort of like applying the paleo diet to parenting -- matching up strategies with what worked for a few hundred thousand generations. Tough read, clunky at times, but fascinating and mostly convincing.

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman -- I'm not quite halfway through this one, but it's rocking my world. Brilliant researcher, good writer and a theme I'm into -- cognitive biases and decision making.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is like the pop-culture version of the book above. Wonderfully entertaining, highly readable and very convincing, yet after reading it I figured out why I had resisted it -- just because people tend to make snap decisions does not mean that it is good strategy to do so. I prefer Kahneman's cautionary tone and his deeper dive into the pitfalls of "Blink" decisions.

Closer -- this fourth book in the Tunnels series is the only fiction I read for myself (actually re-read), in anticipation of the fifth book, which has been sitting in cataloging at the ORL forever. This is real guilty-pleasure reading for me, where the fantastical settings, speedy pacing and creepy vibe help me suspend my disbelief and ignore the huge holes in the plots.

Weakerthans -- The Reasons -- terribly corny video, but I still love this song. Classic.

Japandroids -- Celebration Rock (streaming on NPR) -- awesome new album of rip-roaring new rock. These guys evoke a band from Winnipeg that we loved called Banned from Atlantis (listen to "Subtle Suggestions" for a great slice of raw early-'90s pop/post-punk)